Mercedes-Benz M-class (ML320, ML350, ML500 and ML55) 2005 and earlier

dt77

thanx for your reply. I just had service A done too ! wheels rotated and aligned. great. anyone know if alignment is an extensive task ? might bring her in....

dt77

dleungnyc

A full 4 wheel alignment for most vehicles takes anywhere from 30 mins to 1 hour, depending on the vehicle and tech ( from my experience ). Main thing is, they should check to make sure there are no tire/wheel damages, which are easy to check, just eye ball it. The tie rod part will need to jack the vehicle up, and do a push pull test, and another visual examination. You can test the alignment yourself by feeling whether the vehicle is pulling or not during normal driving. Heh, I have this happen to me enough driving around NYC.

dt77

Harold Pietschmann says on all 4 wheels.

http://4x4abc.com/ML320/ml_chains.html

dt77

No noticible drift or unusual handling characteristics so far. All seems good...i might just give my SA a call...

dt77

dt77

acutally, apart from alignment problems, that doesn't seem too serious. I was more concerned with structural damage ? say to the axles and watever the car rides on I have a friend with a honda accord 2 door drive up a pavement and had to get axles replaced. not fun.

dt77

dleungnyc

The M-class techincally is a truck. My experience with trucks when compared to cars is this. Trucks can take this kind of abuse better than most cars in general. Except maybe the old BMW I drove that had only 4 of the 6 cyl working, but that's another discussion. 8}

If you are really that concern, do a visual inspection yourself, by using a flashlight and look under the truck and behind the wheel, and compare the visible parts with the other side and see if there are any difference or out of place items. Also, you can jack up the wheel that went over the pothole and try this. After the truck is up, grab the wheel on the side, at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock postion. Push on the 3 o'clock position and while you are doing that, pull on the 9 o'clock position and then reverse, push on the 9 and pull on the 3. Do this rapidly with a tab of force, if you feel movement or vibration, then you might have some structure damage. Tie rod, etc. Hope this helps.

bob259

Drew, Glad you got them OK. Thanks for posting for everyone too.

dt77

thanx for the litronic article. appreciate it.

dt77

kenyee

are up: http://4x4abc.com/DV/01/report.html

biker5

How about if you are a dual citizenship.????? I like rexconde's Flag, with three bright color.. And congratulation Steve You passed your first History test. Your explanation is correct.

tazzidevil1

Just purchased my new 2001 ML320 .
Is the extended warranty worth it or just a gamble?
Any negotiation on pricing?

maristella

Puerto Rico is on the list as a country, not as a state(although that might happen someday), so how come no flag?
By the same token, I'm trying with Guam. Let's see what happens...

maristella

That was supposed to be Guam's flag. Oh, well..at least I found the PR flag.

stever

I could've sworn your flag wasn't on the list when I first wrote you:-). Probably it was there all the time (but you didn't see it either?). hmmm. Whatever, glad you found it.

Thanks for the kudos, biker5, but I had to google.com that one. When I first saw PRI I thought of Mexico (Institutional Revolutionary Party--until recently their ruling party). Having been to all the US states, I would like to add PRI and Guam, Virgin I., etc. to my collection some day, but it's hard to road trip there:-)

Steve
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards

cdic

Anyone taken their ML out on the beach? How does this car perform on sand? Do you have to lower the tire pressure?

I will have the opportunity to hit the beach soon, but would love to hear from someone who has done it before. The fishing is great out on the outer banks of North Carolina if you can get to it. I never had any trouble with my old Toyota, but I think it had more ground clearance than my new ML. Most of the beach access points are fairly well used so they often have deep wheel rutts. I fear if I air-down the clearance may be insufficient, although by the specs, the ML has a single inch less clearance than my old 4Runner. I used to air it down to 10-15 PSI. The ML tires are A LOT wider to start with, but lower in profile. I would greatly appreciate any experience available from the ML collective.

kenyee

cdic:
I think it'll be pretty funny if you don't air down, but I've never tried it.
One thing to watch for is sand dragging into the rear bumper. Some folks on the m-class list have reported that it acts like a scoop and can rip off...

cavman2x

good question. Ijust bought a ML320 last week and the salesman said the extended warranty was, if remember corrctly around $2,500 for 4yrs/50K mi. additional. If i signed up within 30 days a 10% discount would apply but would have a year to make a decision for the regular price. I believe/hope that the price is negotiable and expect a followup call soon. It has been explained to me that the commision on extened service contracts is quite large and a reduced price sale is better than no sale at all. Hope this helps and if anyone else has had any experience on this please post. Thanks,G

cavman2x

Does anyone have any reliable information what an ML sells for in Europe vs. US$ MSRP. It was explained at the time of purchase that a $10,000 fine/tax would have to be payed if this vehicle was transported out of this country.(I am not planning on doing this) I signed a document acknowledging this. The sales rep stated that these typically sell for $15,000 over MSRP in Europe. True?? In another conversation I had with him he said that a MB exec that transferred to US headquartes in NJ saved aprox. $30K on a S500 vs buying one in Germany. He ordered it in advance so it would be here when he arrived. Sounds strange... The reason I ask is because someone told me that MB are like Chevys in Europe and everyone has one. I believe that Europeans pay alot more for a car and keep it for many years not like most Americans who get a new car every 3years. TIA G

kenyee

cavman2x:
They get whacked on taxes/GST/VAT, etc. over there. Their effective tax rate is closer to 50% if I remember correctly. Gotta pay for their universal health care and older/bigger governments :-)

cavman2x

Thanks for the tax info. Do you know how the foreign MSRP is vs USA? Same,less, more $ for$?? Thanks...G

tarik

1. A German ML 320, configured about the same as in the US (leather, heated power seats, moon roof, privacy glass,) will cost you roughly 47,000 Euro or US$ 42,000. If you exported one which was bought from a dealership, not from an individual, the 16% VAT was to be paid back to you. Factor in transportation, import duties and such, your cost would probably remain the same. If you are over with the forces, it can work out, though.

2. MB dealers in Germany MUST make you sign a form "promising" not to export the car before 12 months after purchase. You still can, but the dealer will receive a hefty fine, and as a result, never sell a car to you again. This is done to protect their dealers in neighboring countries. A fine - new to me.

3. I don't think that any car except may be US$ 80,000 and-up-models sell for this kind of premium, although ML 270 CDIs are in very high demand, and a premium for the spot on the waiting list is possible (Birger should know).

4. The exec who bought the car in the US after transfer probably has a subsidized company car now . 30k in savings sound sorta high.

5. Not everybody in Europe drives MB, and they sure aren't like Chevys. Obviously, you see more of them on German roads than here. Average Europeans are willing to spend more for a car in order to buy quality. This is the main reason for the constantly unsuccessful offerings of US cars in Europe. Prices are almost equal to their European counterparts, quality is not (no flame!)

6. Typically, Europeans hold on to their cars longer than three years, but with incentives and gigantic lease offers, times are beginning to change there, too.

Ken, you are talking about the sum of deductions on your paycheck, which (in Germany) can sum up to 53%, I believe. This, plus gas prices make keeping a certain standard of living there a little more challenging, to say the least. But as long as lots of folks can still afford expensive cars, it does not seem to be too critical, does it?

Hope this is helpful,

Tarik

kenyee

I thought the number was in that range. I think it even approaches 65% is some Euro countries. In the US, it's roughly 40% for the fed+state (assuming you're in a state that has lots of "government"...I think NY and CA are the highest at 7%); the max on the fed portion is 35% with an average of 30%.
I think they also get hit w/ a higher state/local sales tax (the non paycheck portion of taxes) than we do; I think that's the 16% VAT you mentioned. I know Canada's definitely is a lot higher than anything in the US.
Frankly, I don't know how folks outside the US do it. I'm in enough pain from doing my taxes this year already (like most folks, my mutual funds threw off lots of capital gains and tanked 40% on top of that)-: Whenever I visit other countries, I get a better appreciation about how good we have it here...

dt77

Drew, do you have the date of that litronic article ? ie. month and year ?
thanx.

dt77

dt77

I found a nail embedded in my front driver side tired today. Head of nail barely 1/8 of an inch. Visually, don't see much air loss resulting from visitor. Any recommendations ? My '95 BMW 325 had a similar incident. It was a bigger nail and incurred more airloss. Can't remember how much dealer charged me for patch up...

dt77
00 ml430. 10100 miles.

dleungnyc

Just for fun, the MSRP prices in Hong Kong for a ML320 is $500000 HKD. Basically, its the US MSRP X 2 then multiply that by the exchange rate of 7.725. The S class is over a million in HKD, FYI.

sshowitt

Tazzidevel1,cavman2x
Go to my profile and e-mail me, I will forward you information on getting the extended warranty at a substantial discount. If you plan on keeping your vehicle past the std. warranty period, I would strongly recommend the extended warranty. It doesn't take long for labor and parts to eat up $$. I am not only talking drivetrain (which seems to be trouble-free) but all the computor elctronics, etc. It is also transferrable, a big asset when you want to sell it privately, you can recoup basically what you paid for it. Lets face it, if you were looking at two similiarly equiped vehicles in similiar condition and you had to pay $1000.00 to $1500.00 more on one that had a factory 4 yr/50K mile warranty still on it, which would you buy?

sshowitt

I installed the Philips H-7 Vision Plus Bulbs for the low beam application . I purchased them from www.fosmo.com for approx. $33.00 a pair delivered from the UK. These, added to the H-1 Philips Premium High Beam Bulbs (just found out that they now have introduced the H-1 Vision Plus bulbs) really brighten up the road quite noticeably. I highly recommend the upgrade. I also recommend fosmo, their service has been great, as well as their pricing and advice.

cavman2x

Thanks to all for responding to my questions about pricing and warrantys. Another question has anybody had problems getting their Tele-Aid service started. My problem seems to be a paper problem at the Tele-Aid center. The sales rep at the dealership is beside himself that this is taking over 1 week to do and is getting no satisfaction from the people at the center. This is strange but when I recently call the 800 # to get account info, no one picked up. When I then called the Emergency only 800# some one picked up on the second call. Good thing it wasn't a real emergency. Hopefully this will be taken care of this week.

kenyee

dleungnyc:
Any idea how much of that is import tax vs. sales tax? I know MB gets a big break for building the ML in the US and using a lot of US suppliers. 2X our price seems a bit extreme :-)

cavman2x:
I had lots of problems w/ getting TeleAid activated. It took two months. The problem was the two magic numbers the TeleAid people had were totally wrong; I think they swapped numbers for an ML in Georgia (they were wondering why they couldn't find my car on their network initially :-) Ask the dealer to give you all the numbers from their diag that takes an hour to run and you can verify the numbers w/ TeleAid.
What annoyed me was that your free year starts from when you purchased it rather when you activated it successfully. I griped to the MBUSA feedback form, but got no reply from them.

bob259

dt77, The article was from the Porsche Panorama dated January 2000.

haunruh

I have a '98 ML320. Can anyone tell me what type of opener will fit into the overhead housing? Stanley makes about a dozen or so, and I want to buy one that will fit the first time ... not require trial-and-error purchases.
Thanks, Harry

dleungnyc

Sorry, I don't know what the tax percentages are for those MSRPs. Somebody that lives in Hong Kong might be able to answer that question.

kjoo

Sorry haven t been in in a while but i ve move still lovin my ML 55

mlx52

I'm going to be taking a car trip this coming weekend and would like to be able to have some wireless headsets for the car that I could plug into the TV. As some of the movies that my kids watch get quite repetitive. I don't want the MB entertainment system as I already have a VCR and TV, but I would like headphones. I would like them to be set up in a way so that I can have three headsets all running off of the same wireless transponder. Is this even possible to accomplish or would I have to buy a separate transponder for each set of headphones. If it is possible who makes it and where can I buy it.

Thanks a bunch,
Jamie

ml320hugomnj

I had trouble for a week, but the issue was really the local carrier "Verizon", AT&I Cellular, or other here in NJ; I took it for service, got a loaner and half a day later got my ML back without Tele-Aid. I doubted the dealer, but a few days later I connected while in PA, got the system initialized and all has been fine since (have not needed it really). My other car is a Suburban, with "On-Star", which has worked fine since day 1 (got it initialized before leaving the dealer on a Saturday).
On BBs in Europe: There are a lot of MBs, but relatively few ML, mostly base "C"s (stick shift, no sunroof, no leather, sometimes rolling windows, no tint,...) , often running diesel engines used as taxis; private MBs are still a luxury, specially those equipped like most here.

bob259

This was in response to my request on information on availability of 0w40 oil in the US. The following is the reply I received from Mobil. Interesting....

Thank you for your inquiry.

We do not have information on the possible availability of Mobil 1 0W-40

in the U.S. An alternative you may want to consider is Mobil's Delvac 1,

a diesel synthetic motor oil that meets the SJ API rating. Attached

please find a link to the Delvac 1 product data sheet.

 http://dallnd6.dal.mobil.com/GIS/MobilPDS.nsf/26b7c4b33367a4a086256665004e4266/60d8a76e857b7e71852567b60072913a?OpenDocument

--

The above information is provided in good faith based upon the

information presented by the customer. ExxonMobil is not responsible for

any loss or damage resulting from inaccuracies or errors in any of the

information provided or any acts or omissions taken in response to our

advise.

kingscorpian

nofeer

I have a 98 ml320, quality issues like others. Considering a new "suv" next year. Would you consider the ml320 again. or select from others. My wife drove the highlander and loved it. Though the ML has had quality problems, none stopped us driving it, it's got 52kmiles on it and is my wifes main ride. Do you think the 02 edition will be one to wait for or go to another brand. The service here is ok, not like my lexus service, and not my lexus quality (01 ls430 had for 4 monts--perfect, not even tire pressure off) so how about some learned opinions on choices, and if anyone has anymore on what the interior changes of the 02 ML let me know

considering--
volvo cross country
highlander
acura mdx
lexus rx300
Ml320

why can't they put the e class diesel in the M class?

bob259

nofeer: I have a MY00 ML320 and I would definetly buy another MB.

considering--
Volvo cross country : My wife's car is a Volvo XC (MY00) While the 01's are nicer I like the ride of the ML better and so does the wife. The Volvo sits low so you don't get a good view of the road like in the ML.
Highlander : Typical Toyota seats and doesn't have to options I'd want, like Xenon's and low tow rating (3,500lbs).
Acura mdx : Will not pay a premium price for any vehicle. Like the NAV system.
Lexus RX300 :I almost bought a RX before I drove the ML. I thought the RX was not as stable at highway speeds and didn't like the Camry unibody base platform. Again only 3,500 lb's of towing capacity.
Ml320 : I would purchase again. I like the torque of the MB V6 and the drive line is the best of those you are comparing with. I like the fact it is a body on frame construction and will allow you to tow up to 5,000 lbs. Best safety record of all SUV's (tied with BMW X5)

All in all, I'm pleased with my choice and would do it all over.

macbest

I also had a 98 ML with quality problems. Wrote to MB and laid all of them out. They came back with an offer to buy back my MB so I could get into a 2001. What a great company. I'm now driving a 2001 and loving it. Amazing difference in three years. Its almost like a totally different experience. Much quieter, much better build quality, yet everything I loved before is still there: ride, height, feel, etc.

You might try this approach. My 1998 had 42K miles on it when I wrote in. Good luck!

drwag

My 55 AMG: It seems the body is not very good tighten on doors.It`s always dusty, even the next day after cleaning. Has anyone else the same problem?

js888

Took my 320 in the other day for oil change (to Mobil 1)and had them check out the occasionally clicking sound from the heater area (not from the fan, since it would take a few extra seconds for the sound to go away after I turned off the fan).
The SA says the ticking sound is from the "purge valve"(?) on the evaporator/filter(?) and it's normal. Hmmmmm....... The A/C was not on, just the heater.
Has anyone noticed this ticking sound coming from the AC/Heater fan area?

sshowitt

What type of deal did they give you? What did they give you on your 98 and did they discount the new one. I traded my 98 on a leftover 2000ML430 last November. My problems were predominately fit and finish, rattles etc, nothing major. MB gave me 700.00 towards the new vehicle. My dealer did the deal, gave me $25K for the 98 ML320 with just under 40K and discounted the leftover ML430. I am very pleased with the new vehicle, except the fuel economy is disappointing. Love the navagation, larger wheels and tires and of course the V-8 on the highway. I guess thats the trade-off. It is definitely an improved interior and ride from the 98, much quieter too.

biker5

I didn't know that Mobil 1 0W-40 weight are not selling in some area, but here at SoCal thats all they sells 0W-40 weight. San Diego to be exact.....

bob259

biker5: Mobil 1 is available at the retail stores in only the following weights 0w30, 5w30, 10w30 and 15w50. From the MB dealership you can get 0w40, but no where else, Mobil doesn't even list it on their web site. I bet if you checked it is the 0w30 your thinking of.

I'm assuming MB, like Porsche, has a deal with the Mobil specialty oils for their line of vehicles. It keeps you coming back to the dealer.....

biker5

I will check on this one today and I'll let you know, maybe you are right.

biker5

bob,
you are right, the one that i saw was 0W-30
not 0W-40..

c_j_gordon

Thule 754 System and Thule H2GO Saddles are what I use for my windsurfer. Excellent system (easy on/off). I also have the Thule Mast holders which also hold paddles very well. Capacity is 200lbs.

dt77

if i'm not wrong, there is a range of 40% - 60% imposed on the of price new car purchases. it's a one time 'registration' tax. But as as far as cars priced twice as much in HK as the in states - that sounds about right...and singapore is about quadruple that of the states.

dt77

dt77

I get that problem too, but I just live extremely close to dusty DTLA.

dt77